3 million liters of drinking water was wasted when the Melamchi pipe burst in Babarmahal on Wednesday while the Nepal Electricity Authority was expanding the underground line. Babarmahal area was submerged till evening due to continuous flow of water for four hours from the DI pipe, about 20 inches thick, buried two and a half meters. The road is also flooded at the place where the pipe burst.

The district court, roads, forests and other government buildings as well as settlements were flooded. Even though the water has stopped flowing, the lake is frozen. In addition to Babarmahal, Meen Bhavan, Anamnagar and surrounding areas, water distribution services have been stopped. 

There was a stampede on the road after a pipe broke and water came out. The area was flooded and obstructed traffic and pedestrian traffic. Walls have also been destroyed when water wells enter the inner settlements. 

The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Limited (KUKL) has informed that all the water in the bulk pipe laid by the Melamchi Water Supply Project Implementation Unit has been wasted. "Due to the bulk distribution line, the water in the pipe is full for 24 hours," said Ashok Paudel, Chief Executive Officer of KUKL, "After the pipe is repaired, the water distribution which has been closed from Babarmahal, Anamnagar, Meenbhavan and other areas can be resumed as soon as Thursday evening." 

According to Paudel, about 170 million liters of water coming from Melamchi daily is being distributed to Kathmandu Valley through the treatment center at Sundarijal. "Since Babarmahal is in a deeper part than the Sundiri water treatment plant, a large amount of water has accumulated in one place in a short time," he said, "More than 1,000 km of pipes have been laid in the Kathmandu valley. The test has not been done for all the pipes. Water has been sent to 13 places in the valley from the main wholesale center of Chabhil. Paudel said that some pipes are new and some are old.

The electricity authority is doing the wiring work through a contract. During that, the pipe broke when the machine found it while digging the ground on Wednesday. The machine itself got stuck in a 20-inch pipe. Although the stuck machine was removed, the amount of water came out from the pipe. 

Arjun Nepal, Site Engineer of Road Division Office, Kathmandu, said that the damaged road will be repaired immediately after the pipe burst while the electricity authority was working. Tika Chaudhary, head of the Melamchi project implementation unit, said that the electricity authority will take responsibility for the repair as the pipe broke during drilling. 

It has been verbally agreed that the Melamchi Project Implementation Unit will immediately repair the pipe and operate the water and the cost will be borne by the Electricity Authority. "We have asked the planning unit to repair it," said an officer of the authority, "we will bear the cost." For the first time in March 2077, Melamchi water was brought from Helambu spring in Sindhupalchok to the Sundari water treatment plant through a 26 km tunnel.